Creating Music Release Cover in Illustrator

1. Introduction: Hi, My name is Phil. I'm an illustrator and graphic designer. I like to work with music artists and bands, and I have made a lot of car arts for different music releases. So in this place, I want to share with you some tips that you should keep in mind when you're working on a cover Art and Elsa, I will show you entire protests off, creating a cover art in Illustrator from start to finish. So enrolled the quest and and let's talk. So we're going to create an artwork for music release. Here's some tips you should keep in mind. Today. Most of music is distributed digitally via services like Big Port. When this, for example, Nigerians and so and because of that, you should keep in mind if you think before you start making your color art, for example, keep in mind that your artwork will be aligned with numerous off others, so it should somehow stand out and engage the user to click a button and review the trick or downloaded. Abide whatever so it should be interesting and appealing for the user, And the second think you should keep in mind is how your artwork will look at small time nail size for months like this. So the good practice is to have an one boat object, some simple form or something like that, which has high contrast with the background. So my situation is tow. Avoid complex, detailed artworks with detailed backgrounds and so on. It's not necessary rule, but ah, as you can see. Ah, a lot of cover Arts designers are following this principles, so just one simple object, which has high contrast with the background. So now we know this little insider tips, and we can start making our artwork. So here is our fine administration. Made an illustrator. I made it recently for upcoming music producer Hazel Bert. The trick name is Collide, So my idea was to show somehow the protests off colliding human that I don't really understand what it is, but whatever. So my idea was to create this kind of circle stripes that moving in some form off spiral. Oh, something like that. So home, how I made it. Let's start from zero 2. Drawing Shapes: so OK, let's start and make a new file. The size doesn't matter because we're working in vector graphics. We can scale our registration to any size. Just make sure that you wouldn't hate the same because we need a square shape. Okay, because usually musical cover Arts Square like a CD cover art vinyl cover art. But in this case, we will make a digital cover also, so this release will be distributed digitally. Growth was the Internet, so OK, let's start by choosing rectangle to and just draw a rectangle and let's paint it black. This is our background. So yes, let's remove stroke. So just a book rectangle so we don't need it anymore so we can just book it My golden object and block book selection on Just Hit Controversial Common to. Okay, now we're ready. So OK, let's elect Alex to and draw a circle in the center by holding eyes and shoot. Let's draw a circle and let's paint it with orange. Now that's making out the copia off our circle by hitting Cantrow CE or common scene and then counsel or Commons F based. Another copy off our circle. On top of it Let's enlarge our second circle, holding ultimate suit again. Something like that. And let's spend it with verbal, for example. And let's send our purple circle in in the back off our orange. We go to a range and sand backwards like this. All right, so now let's choose how both shapes and go to the object brand grant options and choose specified steps and said to four So we want the four new circles will be between our small and our watch wants. Okay, the object brand make Yeah, So now we get, like, four additional circles between our two and with that nice Brent off color from orange to purple, but a So you see, we can, like, move How a new circles. It's like Boutin Insight. So, like like an effect. So now we need to expand it. So we go to object, expand, hit, okay. And then on group everything Hang group. All right, so now, as you see, would get everything expanded into shapes. Okay, But actually, I don't want it to be like solid color circles. I wanted to be just a rings, so let's select everything and go toe pathfinder and feet divide Now let's and group it and you see everything's now like divided. I cut it so we don't have this solid color circles anymore. We got, like, six tonight, nice rings except this circle. So let's convert it to ring, too. Let's switch is a few cower with stroke color and let's go to a stroke and set it to align stroke toe inside, Analysts said some size just to match our other rings. Yeah, something like this. Yes, somewhere similar. But this is not a shape. This is a stroke. We wanted to be a solid shape like other brings. So it's selected and goto object. But out one stroke. All right now we got a shape like the others. Basically, I think it's already nice artwork, but we will move further. So let's move on to the next lesson. 3. Dividing and Rotating: Okay, Now let's cut off our shapes into house. So just choose the mental and draw a simple stroke. The cursed center off our the shapes and then select the stroke. And oh, I was shapes and go to Petfinder Divide and on group. So now everything is divided into house and our stroke has disappeared. So now we got just to house off every shape. Basically, we will need just only 1/2 so we can delete this and work with just the only one house and rotate this pieces from each other to get that effect. But let's leave this house and use it as our guide. So let me show you what I'm in. Select our guide house and painted with any random color. Oops. All right. It's attempted and playing with, for example, Green. Uh, okay. And let's now group a health health with each other. But this one, this group, this money with this and so move group. Okay, now we're back without so rings. And no, we will retaliate Our rings, for example. That's the word. One will be full 180 degrees. Yeah, and the 1st 1 will be a zero degree and the rest will be distributed somewhere between. So why we use our second house? Because if we delete it and starting to rotate it in, you see, we need the rotation toe. It's based centrepoint so familiar. It's more tranquil, human. And I found it much easier just to use this second health as a guide. Okay, let's rotate the other shapes. So let's what made this one somewhere like this. This is somewhere like this, Like this. And this is like this. Yeah. So now we can on group our house and delete green guides. Go and delete. Well, just get hit control shift G four on group. All right, so this is some empty past. Unfortunately, after using divide to illustrators, sometimes leave this annoying empty us. All right. Seems clean now. Okay, now we're finished with our basic composition and shapes. Let's make it more interesting by Paul and Grady ins. So let's move on to the next lesson 4. Adding Gradients: so Okay, let's make our shapes more interesting and poor ingredient to them. So choose our first shape and let's go to Great Aunt. So let's radio and, as you see illustrator, a polite default working white radio Grady int total shape. But this is not exactly what we want. As you see here, our saved the color of flower shape so we can drag it here toe O'Grady int and then holding out drag and make another copy it. And now we can remove this black and white point by just drinking them down like this. So see, we got Radio Grady int with the same color on both sides, so let's make one color is like more white orange, and another is more dark. So select our just a coward and go to the cover the window and let's select the HSB car remote. You can select it from here so you can just hold, shift and click on this rainbow rectangle, just which between the most, Just hold your shift and click it to switch. Okay, let's choose hs meat and let's reduced the saturation little bit and had some brightness like this. And let's choose our second color and make it more Darkwa. What, this and let's just the position off, radiant. Let's go to Radiant, just G. And let's move the center here And they suggested, like here. So we got our light color inside, and then it spread to the outside to the dark power. Like this. Yeah, so let's repeat these with other with our other shapes, select down shape. She's really O'Grady int drink or power copied. Let's make it whiter on this. It's more dark and let's adjust. It's like that. Also, we can adjust this crossover point and move it slightly through the darker side. All right? Yeah, and let's complete it without the shapes. So okay, no, where blood are radiance. And let's move on to the next lesson and add some final touches to our administration. 5. Applying Opacity Masks and Final Words: so okay, now I want to get some effect. Like to make our shapes like coming from nowhere. So to hide the ages, it's like making make them fade into the darkness. So to a kid, this will go use basically masks. So let me show you how it works. So let's let our biggest shape let's copied by Conso CEO Common Sea and based in Front Commons or control F. So we get another copy off it in front of it. This will be our mask. Now let's go to Great Aunt Select Pioneer and sit Argh! Radiant to brick and white like this. So we got our shape. And on top of that, we got the new shape with black and white Grady, in which you will be our mask. So select our both shapes and go to transparency. And you sees his button make mask and let's hit it. Now you see, everything that was black is hidden, and everything that was white is with a ball. So this is how capacity mask works. But this effect is not exactly what we want. So let's undo this. And let's adjust the garden black and white, radiant off our mask. So let's say it's great into Let's rotate it. Not like this. Yeah. We want this edge to make it fade into the darkness, so everything here must be visible. And then it's starting to disappear. So now you know how the best 50 masks works. So everything that will be everything that now is black will be disappeared. Snow? Yes, adjusted little meat. But these? Yeah, This All right. So let's choose our both shapes. Drunk. Spencey, Make mask. Yeah, this is exactly what we want it. So let's make the same with other with other shapes. Right? So select our next shape company based in front by working white hopes working white Grady int adjusted. Something like that, Right? This? Yeah. Let's let both shades hopes on lettuce too. Transparency make mask. All right, and so on. Let's repeat the process without shapes. All right, we get our capacity, mosques apply it else. So I reduced the size off overall shapes and edit some titles. The hazel birth is the name of ah, artists and collect was just a Tom Dart white front. So all right, we write our capacity masks also, I reduced the size off our group a little bit and edit the titles with producer name and threatening with justice and dart white forms. And basically we're done. Yeah, that's it. And now it's your turn. I encourage you to create a cover art for any song you like. Like from beetle cells to Brianna can us to anything you want, But keep in mind, it must be a nothing album but a single trick cover art. And don't forget that it will be the cover for digital release. So I imagine it will be distributed the digital platforms. So keep in mind that tips from the first lesson that I share with you and, uh so I look forward for your projects. I hope you enjoyed the quest and see you soon.